Fresh iPhone Apps for July 27: Cooliris, Bubble Witch Saga, Manos - The Hands of Fate

Bring all the photos you shoot and share this weekend to one place with photo app Cooliris. It allows you to view shots from multiple sources and share them easily with your friends through social networking. It kicks off today’s Fresh Apps haul, followed by Bubble Witch Saga, a bubble-shooting puzzler that mixes in elements of Pachinko. Finally, we’ve got Manos - The Hands of Fate, a retro platformer old-school gamers are sure to enjoy.

Cooliris is like having a personal social network for all of your photos. The app allows you to aggregate all the images you have on Facebook, Instagram and your iOS devices, and put them in one place. You can also browse photos from the web, and quickly share them with others straight from the app. The goal is that you’ll never have to go looking around for your photos again, because Cooliris keeps them all together.

The great thing about Cooliris is that, because it keeps all your photos together, it makes it easy to share them and comment on them among your friends. You can also easily view everything with the app’s pretty user interface and view them on your Apple TV or Mac with AirPlay. There’s no limit to the number of photos you can include in Cooliris, either.

Video game aficionados will see elements of the popular Bust-A-Move franchise in Bubble Witch Saga. The goal in each level of the game is to shoot colored balls toward the top of the screen, where a number of balls are stuck together. Hitting a group of a single color with the same color from the player’s cauldron (the place from which the colored balls derive) clears them out, earning points and bringing the whole cluster of balls at the top of the screen closer to falling down. Your objective: Drop the balls down into cauldrons below, Pachinko-style, to earn huge points.

There’s an element of strategy to Bubble Witch Saga as well, because every time you make a big combo by clearing balls from the top of the screen, a spider descends from the ceiling that adds a multiplier to falling balls that bounce off it. But if you fire a shot that doesn’t clear any balls, a spider retracts from that same side – so you’ll want to be very careful about your shots and where you fire them. Your points on each level rack up to earn you stars, and how well you do on each stage is tracked on Game Center leaderboards.

Based loosely on a movie considered to be “among the worst films ever made,” Manos - The Hands of Fate brings players into a retro game world reminiscent of offerings from back in the 1980s. You play as Mike, a man exploring a haunted inn, armed with only his ability to jump and a gun as he works through the game’s side-scrolling levels. It’s not unlike games like Super Mario Bros., but Manos has its own weird charm that sets it apart.

The cool thing about Manos is how true to the retro feel it really is. With 8-bit graphics and a chip tunes soundtrack, it really does feel like a game from a bygone era. It also has some pretty challenging, engaging gameplay, providing players with regular boss fights and obstacles you’ll need all your skills to surmount. There’s also Game Center support for achievements and leaderboards.

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The Dark Knight Rises doesn't fall short of expectations

APPOLICIOUS ADVISOR RATING:

4 of 5 bars PRICE: $6.99TASTY: Surprisingly well-executed combatBUMMER: A clumsy camera. Also, pushy in-app purchasesCOOL: An actual video game based on The Dark Knight films!

As the first movie tie-in game to the Christopher Nolan Batman movies since 2005, Gameloft's The Dark Knight Rises has a lot to live up to. It sadly suffers from all the same issues all their other open world games have had to face. Despite that, it's actually very enjoyable and worth playing, as long as you can deal with some technical hiccups.

Gameplay can be described as a simpler, cheaper version of Batman: Arkham City, the excellent, mega-popular console and PC game of last year. You are thrust into the Nolan-verse Gotham City as the caped crusader, and while the city isn't truly an open world, it often feels like it as you glide and grapple-hook your way across the rooftops. The combat tries to imitate the fluidity of the Arkham titles, including counter attacks and useful gadgets that you can buy and upgrade with credits. It's not quite the same, but it's still enjoyable.

The story tries to hit all the main points of the newly-released film, albeit in a clumsy way with many remixed scenes. The voice actors do an admirable job imitating their Hollywood counterparts, but they usually fall short. The imitation of Hans Zimmer's epic score is also fairly bland and uninteresting, but these are all seasoning to the true gameplay experience, which is perfectly serviceable assuming your iDevice can run the game. Unfortunately, as with Gameloft's previous open world movie tie-in, The Amazing Spider-Man, this game is wrought with technical issues, from laggy frame rates to freezing and crashing. You should be fine with newer devices, however.

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Despite the occasional slow loading and pop-in, the graphics are amazing for the platform, especially on the latest generation of devices. I still wouldn't classify this as a great game by any means, but it really exceeded my expectations, low as they were. Were this game on a console, it wouldn't be worth a second look, but for only seven dollars on your iPhone, this is a very impressive experience. These movie tie-in games seem to be improving, and I hope they continue to do so.

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Apple TV now includes Hulu Plus

Perhaps that rumored “special event” hosted by Apple on September 12 will offer more than just an iPhone 5 and iPad Mini? Might an app-enabled version of Apple TV finally be in the works?

As first reported by MacRumors, the subscription-based Hulu Plus service is now appearing on the Apple TV menu (owners may need to reboot their device to see it). Hulu Plus, which has a monthly $7.99 fee, joins other blue blood digital services including YouTube, Netflix and of course iTunes, as pre-installed applications for Apple TV.

Forward-thinking Apple TV owners with latest generation iPhones (4 and 4S) and iPads (2 and “New”) can also run a variety of applications on their larger screens via the magic of AirPlay Mirroring. Here are some of our favorite iOS applications you can now run on Apple TV through that technology.

It seems inevitable that Apple will eventually open up a platform to enable third-party developers create apps directly for the TV device. Perhaps that is only a few weeks away?

Stay tuned.

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HABU Music can help you set the mood

APPOLICIOUS ADVISOR RATING:

3 of 5 bars PRICE: $0.99TASTY: Organizing your music by mood is a unique idea.BUMMER: Users of unlimited streaming apps are left out in the cold here.COOL: Ability to preview songs of a particular mood is nice for people buying a lot of music via iTunes.

In a post-iTunes world, where practically any song can be played whenever you want for a nominal monthly fee, music-previewing apps are fighting an uphill battle. HABU Music attempts to fight the good fight by carving out their own specialized niche in the music app empire via song labeling. It’s a decent idea, but HABU will need a little more refinement to become a must-own for serious audiophiles.

The app has two main features – the first sorts the music that users have on their iPhone into categories based on the mood of the song. There are 25 main categories like “Aggressive,” “Rowdy,” “Somber,” and “Sophisticated” that tunes are placed in. Users can also drill those 25 categories into 100 more specific sub-categories like “Dark/Groovy” and “Powerful/Heroic.”

It’s a neat idea, and for anyone with a nice amount of music on their iPhone, it works great. But for those carrying iPhones with limited storage capability while possessing huge music libraries, HABU just doesn’t work. I still have most of my music on a 120 gig iPod Classic, choosing instead to leave my iPhone storage space for games, photos and other miscellaneous things.

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The music not on my iPod is usually found quickly via the Spotify app on my iPhone, but HABU doesn’t sync up with Spotify, so any listening I do there is irrelevant to the HABU experience. This issue of compatibility isn’t surprising, and for most people it probably won’t be a deal breaker, but it severely lessens how useful HABU is for a listener like myself.

HABU’s other main feature lets users check out preview clips of a number of songs in the previously-mentioned mood categories. Users can then purchase the song they’ve previewed for their personal use via an iTunes link right in the app. There’s nice value in being able to preview any number of songs, but for some, streaming apps like Rdio and Spotify have made previewing songs (and purchasing them for a dollar a piece!) as novel as buying a CD.

How useful you find HABU Music really depends on what sort of music listener you are. If you have a modest music library that you carry on your iPhone and you often purchase songs out of iTunes, HABU Music is a cool way to organize your music by mood rather than artist or album. If your life is overloaded with tunes and you’re already using music streaming apps, HABU won’t bring much to the table, not until it finds away to meaningfully interact with those music-streaming apps.

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iPhone App Video Review: ORC: Vengeance

Who’s in the mood for a dungeon crawl? ORC: Vengeance is a new action RPG from Big Cave Games and Chillingo, and it’s nice to see them supporting something other than cute physics puzzlers. It’s pretty rare. This game puts you in the boots of an unlikely hero: an orcish war chief named Rok, as you slice your way through gloomy prisons, stormy keeps and creepy crypts. The production values are crazy good for iOS, and the entirely gesture-based gameplay is frantic and fun, if a bitty iffy on the control side at times.

Humanity being what it is, it pretty much dooms the game world in search for power by opening a gateway to some dark dimension or something. The point is, now nearly every human has been consumed or converted by the undead legion, and this was all after decades of war with the orcs. It’s up to you as an orc chieftain to fight back this otherworldly menace and avenge your people.

The premise isn’t just a gimmick here. The gameplay is designed in ways to really make you feel like you’re controlling a green screaming death monster. Fights are frantic and blows feel impactful, whether you’re bashing a barrel or smashing a skeleton. Heck, you can even hit the air with your shield to create a shockwave, as much sense as that doesn’t make. It’s not just in the high def graphics and great sound, but in the little details like this that make the game feel aesthetically awesome.

You control this emerald emissary of death entirely with gesture controls; tapping to move and attack things, holding the screen to run, and doing various gestures like a double tap, swipe, or circle to perform your special abilities. If you are a dungeon crawling enthusiast, you may be put off by the lack of excessive loot and ability scores. You only have four skill slots and four attributes to assign points into. You also only get one weapon slot and one shield slot. Essentially, the game is very simplified and streamlined, but it’s still great fun if you don’t mind.

Like I said, it’s the little touches that make this game a real gem. It definitely has flaws, but they don’t detract from the overall experience. Although, you should be warned that the game can really chug along or have crashing issues on older devices starting with the 3GS. Game Center leaderboards and achievements are also included for some added addictiveness. ORC: Vengeance is iOS Universal and available for three dollars at the time of this review. It’s definitely worth grabbing.

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Fresh iPhone Apps for Aug. 3: List Bliss, Infinity Blade II update, Glass Balance

Spend less time in the grocery store this weekend with the help of cloud list app List Bliss. The app allows you to share your lists over an Internet connection and even synchronize shopping, so you and a pal can get everything on your list by doing half the work each. You can use the time you save to play games including another big content update to Infinity Blade II that adds new story elements and enemies to kill, and Glass Balance, an arcade title in which you need to match colored pieces of glass to score points like in a match-three game, all while balancing them on a platform to keep them from falling.

The main goal of List Bliss is to cut down on the time you spend in the grocery store every time you need to go shopping, by trying to make the whole endeavor more efficient. Using cloud technology, List Bliss allows you to access your grocery list wherever you are, which means that everyone in your family can contribute to it on the fly, and you can use it to track what you’ve got at home and what you need to pick up.

The app also makes the shopping part easier. You can see categories available in the store to which you’re headed, scan barcodes on the items you already have to add them to your list so you know exactly what you want to pick up, and read product reviews before you make decisions. You can even split your list with a buddy with the “synchronized shopping” feature to divide and conquer at the grocery store.

Another free content update has just hit the award-winning Infinity Blade II, adding the new “Skycages” levels to the sword-fighting role-playing title. As always, players have to work through a series of duels in the game in which they’ll fight hulking beasts and agile warriors, swiping to match swords and parry attacks in each battle.

The update opens a new area of the game for players to explore, and with it come new enemies to defeat. You’ll also learn more about the immortal Deathless, the creatures at the heart of the Infinity Blade universe that usually need an introduction to your sword. The update throws in a new type of weapon to master – the energy blades – and adds 30 or so more items to find and use in your quest, as well as new achievements to earn.

Puzzler Glass Balance mixes two tried-and-true formulas most players have seen before and enjoyed. The first is balancing, in which you drop objects onto two sides of a fulcrum and need to keep them from tipping off the sides. In Glass Balance, that means pieces of glass that are of different shapes and colors, which you need to keep balanced in order to stay in the game. To score points, however, you need to get your match-three gameplay hat on, and put together combinations of the same color to clear glass pieces from the platform.

As you play through Glass Balance, you’ll be able to nab power-ups that earn you more points, like coins that double your score for a set period. You’ll need to be careful though, as you only have a set number of “lives,” and each piece of glass you lose off the side of your platform costs you one. Glass Balance includes Game Center support, so you can check your best scores against those of your friends or players from across the globe.

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New partners Foodspotting and GrubHub have different recipes for growth

Like a burger and fries or apple pie à la mode, Foodspotting and GrubHub are two mobile apps that go really well together.

Foodspotting, which has more than three million downloads across multiple platforms including iOS and Android applications, is a visual guide for unique food dishes. For the uninitiated, the pioneering app locates interesting meals near you, and invites users to snap pictures and share their favorite “food porn” experiences with others. GrubHub, however, provides digital food delivery and takeout services to more than 15,000 restaurants across the United States. More than 30 percent of GrubHub’s orders come from mobile platforms, including iPhone and Android applications.

Earlier this month, San Francisco-based Foodspotting rolled out an update that enables users to order food from GrubHub within the application. Currently about one-third of GrubHub’s restaurants are linked to the app, said Foodspotting CEO Alexa Andrzejewski. When looking at Foodspotting locations in Chicago, where GrubHub is based, I was not able to find any participating restaurants at first check. Andrzejewski said a future update will make GrubHub’s offering more visible.

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Even with a partnership that is not yet fully baked, it’s easy to see how the integration will provide Foodspotting with more engagement. It will also increase transaction volume for GrubHub, which contemplated building its own Foodspotting-like service before going in on a partnership.

“While this is something that is not technically that hard to do,” explained GrubHub co-founder and CEO Matt Maloney, “it makes a lot more sense to work with a partner who has been doing it a while. They are a good group that is very passionate about what they’re doing.”

Just as Foodspotting and GrubHub offer distinct services in food discovery and meal ordering, the two companies also have dramatically different approaches to how they do business.

GrubHub, founded in 2004, achieved profitability before going through a $7,000 seed investment from its co-founders. While the company has since raised more than $50 million in venture capital funding from the likes of Benchmark and others, GrubHub still has somewhat of a meat and potatoes approach to building a business with an intense focus on the bottom line. Conversely, Foodspotting, which raised nearly $4 million in funding from high profile investors in late 2010 and early 2011, is still in no rush to make money.

“We are still in the exploration and prototyping phase,” said Andrzejewski, adding that it would be impossible to generate significant revenue in her end of the restaurant sector without having a great product first.

“VC financing is important to get that experience off the ground,” she said. “You get it to a scale and you can then turn that into meaningful sources of revenue.”

Nearly a decade ago in Chicago, before Groupon and FeedBurner, it was nearly impossible for an upstart like GrubHub with first-time entrepreneurs to raise significant financing without revenue (much less a revenue model).

“It was a different time and different location,” explains Maloney, who worked alongside GrubHub co-founder Mike Evans at Apartments.com before they started their company. “We had restaurants that were willing to pay us for a transactional service.”

Maloney pointed out that industry game-changers like Instagram and Twitter “raised gobs of money before ever figuring out a revenue model", and that there are many paths for startup success.

“If you think about a brand conceptually as real estate in a person’s brain that they are giving you a few minutes a day,” he said, “that is a very valuable asset to some companies. It’s a great business model if you can nail it... I have no idea how Foodspotting will make money, but it’s a cool service and people like it.”

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